Schoenberg and the Subconscious

In my lecture/presentation, I will introduce Schoenberg’s “new music” and composing style and show how his Drei Klavierstucke (Three Piano Pieces) was an important factor in the creation of the “new music.” With the dissonant sounds of atonality came public scorn and distaste towards Achoenberg’s new music. To fulfill his goals and ideals, Schoenberg introduced the new composing methods of the emancipation of the dissonance, and the dodecaphonic methods of composition. The aforesaid methods contributed to the structural and organizational aspects of the music world around him.

The lecture will discuss how atonality came to be; then proceed to talk about how Schoenberg’s music personified the emancipation of the dissonance and led to the dodecaphonic method of composing. Then I will proceed to show how these methods do/do not apply in Drei Klavierstucke. Because Drei Klavierstucke is an early atonal work, traces of tonality are still present. In other words, it is a transitional piece that shows qualities of both tonality and atonality. I will point out the unique aspects of the work that make it so, and then proceed to perform the piece.